Biography
John Maxwell (1879–1940) was a British film producer, distributor and cinema owner. A Scottish lawyer from Glasgow, he first entered the film industry in 1912 and built a chain of cinemas before taking over the Elstree studios in 1927.
He founded British International Pictures (later Associated British Picture Corporation), creating a vertically integrated company that included production, distribution through Wardour Films and exhibition via ABC Cinemas. Maxwell signed Alfred Hitchcock to the studio and produced several of his early films, including The Ring (1927), Champagne (1928), Blackmail (1929), The Manxman (1929) and Murder! (1930).
